Mayors demand government take quick action to compensate victims of Iranian strikes
Daily cost of aiding victims exceeds NIS 15 million, says Federation of Local Authorities; Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav calls on government to ‘not be stingy’ with assistance
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Municipal leaders from across Israel called on the government on Wednesday to take swift action to assist residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Iranian missile strikes, demanding the quick roll-out of a “compensation mechanism that will allow apartment owners to purchase alternative housing.”
Addressing the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, Haim Bibas, chairman of the Federation of Local Authorities, claimed that much of the burden of domestic damage caused by the war with Iran had fallen on local government, with the daily costs of assisting those affected rising to over NIS 15 million ($4.3 million) a day, “and this is just the beginning.”
“If the state does not come to its senses and stand by our side with all its might, the home front will be left without oxygen,” Bibas declared, adding that some 4,948 evacuees were currently in need of aid.
“Those who decided to evacuate to a rental and not to a hotel should receive three months’ rent in advance,” Bibas insisted.
Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes due to extensive damage suffered in attacks. Thousands more have experienced more minor damage, such as broken windows.
Iran has launched over 400 ballistic missiles and some 1,000 drones at Israel since the start of the conflict on Friday, according to fresh data from the Israel Defense Forces.
Of the ballistic missiles, just over 20 impacted urban areas in Israel, causing casualties and extensive damage. Twenty-four people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded.
Weighing in on the issue, Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav urged the government to “not be stingy with money and not repair unstable houses but demolish them and build according to new standards.
“We need to finance the needs of the families who were evacuated from their homes, and it costs millions, and we have been unable to receive this money. We cannot leave the families without a solution,” he added.
“What happened to us is a catastrophe; 20 buildings out of all the buildings that were damaged are designated for immediate demolition,” stated Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot.
“The state must establish a compensation mechanism that will allow the apartment owners to purchase alternative housing,” he said. “Construction will take a long time, and during that time, they will be without homes.”
Bnei Brak Deputy Mayor Menachem Shapira sounded a similar note, telling lawmakers that his city had already approved the inclusion of many of its damaged buildings under the urban renewal program known as Pinui Binui — although such an approach was “not economically viable.”
“The state must seriously consider a mechanism that will transfer the compensation directly to developers to financially incentivize them to get involved in order to quickly rehabilitate the damaged buildings,” he said.
Meeting with residents at the site of an Iranian missile strike in the central city of Ramat Gan on Tuesday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pledged that the government will provide compensation for those whose homes were damaged as a result of the war.
“We will win this war with brave fighters and, no less importantly, through a strong and steadfast home front like you,” he declared, adding that those whose homes were destroyed will be given hotel accommodation as well as full rehabilitation and an initial grant to help them get organized.
Those with damages totaling less than NIS 10,000 ($2,850) can apply for compensation online, he added.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the finance and interior ministries announced that beyond the alternative housing, a preliminary NIS 500 ($144) would be allocated to every resident “whose home is damaged and uninhabitable” with another NIS 1,500 ($432) per resident going to local authorities “to provide a quick and immediate response to expenses arising from the evacuation of residents” such as street cleaning and transportation.
(Residents with damaged homes are also expected to receive compensation for damaged personal property within their homes, but that process will take time.)
“We are working immediately to transfer financial assistance to local authorities and residents who have been evacuated from their homes,” Smotrich said in the statement.
Addressing the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, Interior Ministry Director General Ronen Peretz stated that this money constituted an “initial response.”
“It’s not a perfect package, but it allows us to manage the event properly. We will settle all the additional accounts with the local authority later,” he said. “You, the heads of the authorities, are holding the front line. You have our full support.”
According to the Tax Authority’s Moshe Rosh, the government will soon transfer money to local authorities to cover two weeks of hotel costs for the displaced as well as for securing damaged sites.
Noa Shukrun of the Finance Ministry’s budget department added that the Tax Authority “will fund, for people whose home was harmed, alternative rental fees” in accordance with the law.
National Unity lawmaker Pnina Tamano-Shata demanded that compensation claims by IDF reservists be fast-tracked and that the mortgages of those whose homes were damaged be frozen.
Additional meetings to discuss these issues will soon be held, and “we will provide an immediate legislative response,” said committee chairman Yaakov Asher of United Torah Judaism.
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